One, the military who risk our lives daily for you are honest and open and publish their thoughts under their own names.

The others lurk cowardly in the shadows and refuse to reveal themselves.

You have my word of honor as a warrior that I will take no action against a free person expressing views.

I met with Cathiee last night at her place and what I remember of the conversation was good. We disagree on many things but are unified in one task, not just survival of our civilization but honor as well.

I can talk to her all day and disagree and all is good.

What do the various anonymous people have to fear from open and honest discussion. I have shot no civilians in my nearly 8 months in the military.

I personally pulled the disk drives from the civilian shuttle and using my IT experience from before the war certify the data recovered and brought to the quorum was accurate. Troubling but accurate.

I will be working hard today clearing new nuggets for their checkrides. At 12:00 (SLT) I will retire to TQ and be available for drinks and discussion.

If you want to stop your cowardly attacks and come out into the light, I invite you to meet me there.

Do not call me names or insinuate that I’m a cylon, or any of my family (I consider the Admiral and Onyx thus) have violated any rights without proof.

As my darling ex found out yesterday, getting in the face of Yevka Laws, aka Lioness can lead to a dozen pilots backing her up in short order.

Lets uplift the quality of this discussion with real names and good honest dialog from real people, not pseudonyms.

LT(jg) Yevka Laws
Training Officer
8th Squadron
47th Air Wing
Battle Star Group 47
Pacifica
Frakheads

What a delightfully amusing response. I would propose that perhaps it is not my words that are chosen poorly, but rather your reading comprehension that is at fault.

I know for a fact that the only person who I have accused of being an anarchist on this editorial thread has never worn a uniform in her life, unless she has not bothered to tell me as much. I will assume that you are talking about “Slow But Sure,” and I do take particular interest in the fact that you have commented that that is a woman with a remarkable history who has only recently resurfaced. I can think of such a woman, now that those qualities have been explained.

Why exactly is it that cowards like yourself insist on throwing stones from the shadows of anonymity? Is it because you realize that your words are so hollow that you would not wish to attach your name to them, lest they drag you to the bottom like an anchor?

An anarchist is one who wishes to destroy every semblance and fiber of authority. “Slow But Sure” accused me of being a machine. “She,” as you have pointed out, did not attack the system in so far as I have seen.

Do not make judgements about my personal preferences when you know nothing about them. It is not a violation of any military code that I have seen that one sworn to service cannot wear what they choose when not on duty. Perhaps if you were indeed the veteran that you claim to be, you would be more familiar with such rules and regulations, and perhaps if you were as omniscient about my preferences as you would like to characterize yourself, you would know that the vast majority of the time I have been wearing a military-issue uniform.

Perhaps if you knew a single thing about me, you would know that while I have not always worn the uniform of the Colonial Fleet that I have worn one for far longer than most of your “veterans.” But this is not about pissing contests.

Considering the fact that every member of the service that I have spoken to on the subject has thanked me and agreed with me for stating the things that they have always wanted to say, I would challenge your notion that I am in any way slandering or staining the uniform or the concept of service. You say that I am missing my “mark” with beautiful and colorful metaphor, but no substance. What marks have I missed, exactly? I know that your ilk prefer baseless attacks over ones that require some semblance of forethought, but perhaps you would find greater respect among your peers if you showed an ability to think about what you are saying.

Finally, I will say quite explicitly that your statement about “grunt work” clearly shows that even if you are a veteran that you are undeserving of any measure of respect. That you would demean those who do not fly a Viper or run the systems of a battlestar by claiming that their responsibilities are “simple” or “thoughtless” clearly shows that you have little respect for your own. If you want to insult either the personnel of the unit that I came from or those of the unit that I currently lead, I would advise you to continue doing exactly as you have done.

Cling to the shadows, and throw stones from a spot where no one is likely to find you … because if you dishonor them in my presence, you will pay for it.

In the meantime, I will go back to pondering moral stories about “tortoises” and hares.

-Regina “Onyx” Syakumi
Commander, OPSEC Antares, On Leave
Commanding Officer, Colonial Marine Corps

Adm. A. Nephilim
Battlestar Pacifica
BSG47

Anyone that has been reading the FNS since it began can put that “anonymous” nickname to a real callsign of a real person and a distinguished officer; a person that time and again has protected *you* and will continue to do so because that is her duty and her calling and her sworn oath. That’s your “conspiracy” for you; so yes, I’d say even though you choose your words deliberadely you still choose them poorly. Perhaps you should just do the grunt work you’re clearly gifted by the gods to do like no other and leave the reading of chamalla leaves in the words of others to our holy oracle.

And speaking of poor choice of words, you know, the poor choice of words that makes bad PR and makes civilians doubt the persons they entrusted to defend them, like the poor choice of words that “anonymous” S.B.S. allowed you to defuse… either people do no speak the “lingo” or they do not know what they speak of when they speak of “Razors”. Otherwise the term would not be be brandished in public so lightly at every turn; in fact the term “Razor” would not be used at all, ever, never. The true meaning of that word is a shame, for us, for our civilization, for our entire race. Maybe most people alive here today do not remember listening to Commander Adama’s speech, broadcast live on the Pacifica just before all kinds of hell was unleashed upon us, but it is available in the public records. The day we become these “Razors” is, paradoxically, the day that we, as a race, are no longer worth saving.

The origins of the term “Razor” are the classified records recovered from the shuttle at New Aerelon by a resourceful comrade. When those are released to the press, if ever, they will have a field day… it won’t just be an “Insider Source” trying to kindly show our admiral the contradiction of her words before they get used once too many times to have them taken back. It will be the worst PR disaster in the history of the Colonial Fleet and that, that will be what will divide this fleet and rip it right in half in two useless parts: the military without the civilian charges they now only exist to protect, and the defenseless civilians without their military shield of vipers and battlestar. Martial law will be the first recourse to contain the riots, but it will only make things worse by confirming in the minds of some their worst fears. The cylons will have won on that day, without lifting a mechanical finger.

Sure, there is being a mechanical, emotionless, precision cylon-killing machine, which is just fine and dandy, as is in fact just the whole point of military training… and then there is being a “Razor” in Admiral Caine’s words. Clearly you are not the later, nobody in our fleet is, and for that we should all be thankful for. It means we are still worth saving. It means the gods still have not averted their eyes away from us in disgust. Waging efective and total war against the enemy is no justification for war crimes against human civilians; nothing is justification enough for that, not even for the crazies of us who are blood-sworn to mighty Ares to kill every last cylon in the universe before we are laid to rest and meet our loved ones in the ever after.

Make no mistake about this. What a “Razor” is, in those shuttle records, is a blade that cuts a path and lets not honor, nor morals, nor warrior codes, nor ethics, nor even simple living human beings stand between it and the deathly oil-gurgle of the enemy. Heed the meaning, revile the word, let not this be forgotten.

Thank you for your kind and unexpected words. I freely admit that I have never truly had the opportunity to know you more than as a passing acquaintance, but I believe from the words that you have written here that you do respect the decisions that are made by the members of the fleet’s military and security forces. The unfortunate reality is that many of our peers do not seem to understand the fact that when we speak of the sacrifices that we make, the willful abandonment of our own privileges as human beings, that we are not doing so solely for the mechanical preservation of life. There is a balance between the preservation of life and of liberty, and I believe that every combatant who has spoken here has insinuated that we fight for freedom first and for survival only when it is the last choice that remains.

The preservation of freedom is an ideal that we all seek to maintain, where as the preservation of life is a necessity that we must protect in order to enjoy freedom. We will always strive not to infringe the liberties of the individual as a priority, and those rights will not be infringed unless there is the utmost necessity to do so. Many civilians seem to believe that it is our purpose to be purely methodical in the execution of our duties, and yet they fail to notice the paradoxes of that statement that surround them every day.

I would ask if the people who have slandered those who wear the uniform truly believe that they live in a police state. I would also ask whether or not those people who seem to fear that we will strip away all of their freedoms and luxuries believe that there is even a single thing stopping us from doing so. If it were the sole imperative of the military and security forces of this fleet to preserve basic life at any and all costs, the military infrastructure would not tolerate the freedoms that civilians receive that military personnel are not entitled to. We would not sit by and watch slander and “insubordination” without crackdowns and interference. We would appoint the best leaders to ensure survival, rather than allow the populace to elect those whom they choose.

What rights have truly been infringed by us, given all that the civilian fleet still holds? It is nothing but a fantasy to believe that there is some great “strength” that prevents the military or the security teams from doing whatever they wish. The only thing that prevents us from doing so are the tenants that are expected of every individual who stands a post: honor, duty, loyalty, courage, integrity, unselfishness. Perhaps it would surprise the naysayers to realize that there is a code that every warrior upholds, and even another that every officer is sworn by.

The only thing that the anarchs in this fleet are actually trying to accomplish is to pathetically test our commitment to those principles. At best, they only succeed at impairing our relations with our brothers and our sisters, our spouses and our children, our friends and our purpose. They make it more difficult for us to accomplish our goals by panicking the civilian populace and filling their heads with lies. They make all of our lives more dangerous by inviting distrust and separation to what should remain a unified and cohesive society.

And they bring comfort to our enemies, who stand no chance of defeating us without their aid.

-Regina “Onyx” Syakumi
Commander, OPSEC Antares, On Leave
Commanding Officer, Colonial Marine Corps

I may not understand their methods, I may also wonder if those methods are correct, but I never doubt that the goal is noble.

I pray we don’t lose our liberties in the process,but I also know that the dead have no liberties.

So I for one will always thank and appreciate the work of all our fighting men and women. In fact, if you were at Sniper’s and my wedding over the weekend, you would know we dedicated the song “I won’t back down” by the Tauron rock star Tom Petty to all of you, as a sign of our deep respect.

I say to all of you, but especially Onyx, I appreciate your sacrifice so my life can be a bit easier.

As I usually say when I leave the presence of the wonderful people who place themselves between me and danger – Go with the Gods, warriors!

Respectfully,
Andi Whiteberry

((Only if you mention me in your acceptance speech… ;P))

The wish to award Captain Regina Onyx/Archer Syakumi the Miller award for journalism, most interesting interview since the attacks.

Congratulations Archer.

Congratulations also on the AA kill during yesterday’s “computer simulated exercize” Fine work.

I can only hope when my military profile interview is published there is less interest in that piece.

Yev

- Onyx’s Player ))

She knows what needs to be done, she does it and does it to the best of her ability…

You cannot ask any less of every one of us, She has My respect…

Enough said…